The possibility of a killer cyclone from the tropics delivering a gut punch to the U.S. East Coast just before Election Day, threatening tens of millions of voters with soggy devastation and a possible burst of snow, was probably not a factor in any candidate’s game plan. But it’s suddenly all too real.

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The pre-Halloween hurricane is already affecting the presidential race, prompting both Mitt Romney and Vice President Joe Biden to cancel scheduled appearances this weekend in Virginia Beach. It’s unknown whether it will do the same to a planned campaign stop Monday by President Barack Obama with former President Bill Clinton in Prince William County, Va.

Beyond that, Sandy has scrawled a giant, blustery question mark on a crucial stretch of the political calendar.

The National Hurricane Center’s latest forecast projects Sandy will be either at or near hurricane strength by the time it hooks into the mid-Atlantic coast late Monday or early Tuesday morning. It swept through the Bahamas early Friday after killing 40 people across the Caribbean.

The center of the sprawling storm’s projected path targets Delaware and Maryland, but that projection comes with huge amounts of uncertainty. The territory that could feel the brunt of 57 mph or greater winds — equivalent to at least a strong tropical storm — stretches from North Carolina to Massachusetts, and includes chunks of battleground states North Carolina, Virginia and Pennsylvania. Some states, such as Virginia and Maryland, have already issued emergency declarations.

“This is a very dangerous scenario,” the National Weather Service’s Philadelphia-area office warned in a briefing Friday morning. The agency said likely impacts include major flash and river flooding, along with storm tides of as much as 5 feet in the Chesapeake Bay and 10 feet in Delaware Bay, worsened by the effects of Sunday’s full moon. Forecasters advised that some areas will be exposed to strong winds from the slow-crawling storm for up to two days straight.

Beyond that, Sandy could merge with an eastward-moving winter storm and cold air flowing from Canada to form what the media is calling a “Frankenstorm,” which could drop as much as 2 feet of snow on West Virginia, with lighter dustings in parts of Ohio and Pennsylvania

“Sandy is a loose, unpredictable cannon,” said MIT climate researcher Kerry Emanuel, author of the 2005 book “Divine Wind: The History and Science of Hurricanes.” For one thing, he noted that late October hurricanes usually affect the Caribbean, not the U.S. East Coast.

“The only thing we’re confident in is that it’s a large and dangerous storm and could have widespread effects,” National Hurricane Center specialist Eric Blake said Friday evening.

And that makes Sandy one last wildcard in a razor-thin presidential race that has already taken plenty of strange loops.

Here are some ways the storm could affect the outcome — with plenty of potential down side for either Obama or Romney.

1) Early voting: Voting is under way in some states in Sandy’s potential path — including North Carolina, where state election officials are preparing for the worst.

“Those counties that are already prone to flooding are already making plans for if they need to relocate resources like voting equipment,” said Veronica Degraffenreid, a liaison at the North Carolina State Board of Elections.

She said board Executive Director Gary Bartlett also has emergency powers to suspend early voting in some locations if he deems it necessary. “We would take steps to ensure the safety of voters and election officials,” she said.

That wouldn’t be great news for Democrats, who have been pushing as many of their supporters as possible to vote early in states that allow it.

That would be doubly true in Ohio, another early-voting state — and an all but indispensable state for both Obama’s and Romney’s electoral maps.

Maryland Gov. Martin O’Malley’s administration is also monitoring the storm to determine whether changes will be needed to the state’s early voting schedule, The Associated Press reported.

Early voting is scheduled to start Saturday in Florida, which isn’t in Sandy’s direct path but is getting a lashing as the storm roars past.

I say the biggest impact may be in New Hampshire, if Sandy is anything like hurricane Irene. Then the big damage was flooding and power outage. With trees still in full leaf, will urban or rural areas suffer the most? Regardless of what happens, city dwellers will likely be able to get to the polls. It might not be so easy for those in rural areas. And, there is always the thought, "Hmmm ... what is the recent GOP track record in disaster relief?"

Early voting is a crock, Its a way to steal the vote. Why even have an election day, lets all just vote whenever and as many times as we like. People started voting before the debates and before they were even educated on the issues. You should have to take an IQ test to vote, it is a privilege to vote, make the time.

How can a man so devoid of conviction, so jello-like and spineless, so willing to toss his core values just to further his own political ambition, so lacking in integrity and consistency, and so willing to change positions every time the political winds shift be a good leader? Are Americans so gullible, they actually believe a chronic flip-flopper like Mitt Romney? all

· While Reagan did lower taxes for the wealthy and increased military spending (along with raising certain taxes) - REGAN RAISED THE DEFICITS, TRIPPLED THE DEBT, AND INCRESED THE SIZE OF GOVERNMENT! That’s also Romney’s “plan”!!!

Every GOP for 60 years has played the same broken record. And yet, NOT ONE has ever lowered the deficit! all

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· Romney is devoid of conviction and has proven he'll say anything to get votes. Like jello, he just re-molds himself and says what people want to hear regardless of what he said yesterday.

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· Mitt has no way to achieve the results he’s promising. That’s the exact reason he runs from the math! Romney’s ideas won’t work now and our own history shows they NEVER have!!!!

Early voting is a crock, Its a way to steal the vote. Why even have an election day, lets all just vote whenever and as many times as we like. People started voting before the debates and before they were even educated on the issues. You should have to take an IQ test to vote, it is a privilege to vote, make the time.

Funny, because I could have sworn the consitution spells it out as being a right, not a privelege.

To cover with either increased taxes on the middle class or increased additions to the deficit or growth of over 10%.

In the debate Romney did not claim this balanced except by higher "growth". So expect the taxes passed on to you or through your deductions getting axed or growth greater than 9% or believe in unicorns. Even the rich CEOs are calling for slightly higher taxes on the wealthy having noted that cuts alone can not balance the budget and fund our country.

The damage was huge and we had a crash and bailout in 2008 and also worldwide. We are slowly healing. Took over ten years to get positive during the depression but we are already on positive jobs territory. No need to return to the useless policies of tax cuts to the top that started in 2001 and created only 2.4m jobs by 2008 and huge deficits compared with the 5m created the past 30 months by Obama.

To cover with either increased taxes on the middle class or increased additions to the deficit or growth of over 10%.

In the debate Romney did not claim this balanced except by higher "growth". So expect the taxes passed on to you or through your deductions getting axed or growth greater than 9% or believe in unicorns. Even the rich CEOs are calling for slightly higher taxes on the wealthy having noted that cuts alone can not balance the budget and fund our country.

The damage was huge and we had a crash and bailout in 2008 and also worldwide. We are slowly healing. Took over ten years to get positive during the depression but we are already on positive jobs territory. No need to return to the useless policies of tax cuts to the top that started in 2001 and created only 2.4m jobs by 2008 and huge deficits compared with the 5m created the past 30 months by Obama.